By Paul F. Vang It' a fact of life that real estate developers probably don't often dwell on when extolling the virtues of rural properties: if you have a fire, buildings are going to burn down before anybody can do anything about it.
In southwest Montana, you don't have to look far to find several prime examples; just take a drive along the beautiful Big Hole River. Take the Divide exit from I-15 and head up the river valley.
At Divide, the self-labeled "Gateway to the Big Hole Valley," the Blue Moon Saloon, a long-time landmark business that had its beginnings as an old stage stop a century ago, burned to the ground on July 22, 2005.
Often known as "Phil & Lil'," after a colorful couple who ran the old saloon for years, it was a frequent watering hole for area ranchers, cowboys, fly anglers and hunters. Al Lefor, a partner in Great Divide Outfitters, the fly shop next door to the old saloon, was also the last manager for the Blue Moon.
In a blog he writes for his flyshop, Lefor sadly told the story of the fire and that fire departments from Wise River and Melrose were able to save the fly shop, but the old bar was gone.
"I used to take pride in telling people who had never been here that Divide consisted of the Blue Moon Saloon, Great Divide Outfitters fly shop and a post office, what more do you need." That one fire knocked a crucial leg from that three-legged stool.
The community of Dewey is just a few miles farther up the road from Divide. The center of the Dewey community was the Big Hole River Inn, another historic roadhouse that had its beginnings as a bordello serving local miners back in the 1890s.
This reporter wrote a feature story about the Big Hole River Inn for the August 2002 edition of Tavern Times. Just as Tavern Times went to press, the Big Hole River Inn burned to the ground.
With both of these venerable businesses, electrical problems were blamed for starting the fires, with news stories telling of antique electrical systems built for the simpler demands of basic lighting, and never getting upgraded to handle the demands of commercial coolers, air conditioning systems, juke boxes, multiple TV sets, gaming machines, computers, and all the other power-drawing features of a modern bar or restaurant.
Further up the road, about halfway between Wise River and Wisdom, a long-time mountain guest ranch and resort, Sundance Lodge, was, in 2005, the most recent Big Hole hospitality business to fall victim to flames.
While the loss of these venerable old businesses hit their respective communities with sledge hammer blows, those fires didn't close the book; it just opened new chapters.
For a view at the new look of hospitality on the Big Hole, join let' take a tour to the Big Hole to see what came back from the ashes.
At Divide, a new Blue Moon Saloon now welcomes travelers to the Big Hole Valley. Workmen were putting final touches on the new Blue Moon on the day of my visit while Larry and Ann Bugni scurried around to see that things were being done right so that they could open for business before Labor Day.
"We've had a home here for the last 10 years," Ann Bugni said. "This has been our refuge for hunting and fishing and to get away from the big city."
She explained that her husband, Larry, a Butte native, is an iron worker who has worked all over the western states on many projects, most recently on a retrofitting of the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco. Ann is a nurse, originally from Salt Lake City.
"We've moved around a lot, so we were ready to do something different. We decided we could rebuild the Blue Moon," Ann said.
After acquiring the property from the previous owners and clearing the remaining wreckage from last summer' fire, things happened in a hurry.
"Larry can do anything," Ann Bugni says of her husband who acted as his own general contractor in building the new facility, noting that on the day of our interview it was just 10 weeks from when the building site was still just a hole in the ground to near completion. (As a Big Hole flyfishing enthusiast, this writer has been watching the process closely.)
Ann reflected on the changes to their lives. "I've been on this side of the bar a lot," contemplating her impending move to the working side of the plank. "We originally thought it would be a smaller operation. I'd be the bartender and Larry could cook. It' gone a little beyond that."
The new facility is a far cry from the tiny little country bar that it replaced. The new Blue Moon is spacious, with a commercial kitchen, dining area that seats 60, and a large bar area, dominated by a huge back bar that is believed to have originally been at the historic and nationally famous Rocky Mountain Café in nearby Butte' old Meaderville neighborhood.
"We can't prove that it' from the Rocky Mountain Café," Larry said, "but a couple old-timers have been in and said, "It' the one.'" Larry notes that the original owners of the Rocky Mountain Café were Teddy Traparish and Louis Bugni, a distant cousin, and the father of Charlie Bugni, the former operator of the famed M&M Cigar Store bar in Butte.
That historic old back bar was for sale on E-Bay, and after putting in the winning bid, Bugni had it transported back from Salt Lake City to its new place of honor as the center of attraction at the new business.
In discussing their concepts for the Blue Moon, Ann says, "We want to have good food--very good food--and be consistent. It'll be a nice place for people to come out to. We love to have people to cook for and have a few drinks. It'll just be on a different scale."
The menu won't be large, concentrating on steaks and burgers. "We want to do what we do very well. It won't be a big menu, but it'll be good. Larry is Italian, so we'll also feature pastas and homemade ravioli," Ann said.
Larry Bugni also does southern-style barbecue, telling of past events where he' cooked barbecue for 200 people.
"With our new set-up, I could feed 400," he says, as he talks about slow cooked, slow smoked meats that start with a dry rub, and of the Fourth of July dinner he put on for his workers when he roasted a whole pig.
Although the original concept was for a small business that they could handle without hiring a lot of help, they have hired a cook and a bartender to help get things off to a solid start.
At the time of our interview, Larry anticipated having construction finally completed and everything cleaned up by August 18 and to be able to open for business the following week, and a grand opening celebration on Labor Day weekend.
He' under serious deadlines. The Big Hole River Foundation, an organization of Big Hole ranchers, recreators and conservationists, has booked a big fundraising dinner at the Blue Moon for the evening of September 7, and two wedding receptions are coming soon after that.
Larry and Ann Bugni are looking forward to the coming season, as fall brings many hunters to the Big Hole area, in addition to the anglers that come from around the world to fish this blue ribbon river.
In addition, their son, Andrew, has been an integral part of the building process. He' also an iron worker, but is a horse trainer as well and hopes to have opportunities in the area to follow these interests. Ann noted, sadly, that another son, also an iron worker, died in a construction accident in Salt Lake City in September 2005.
Larry and Ann Bugni realize that business will likely be slow during the winter months. "We'll probably go on vacation," Larry said. Reflecting on the whirlwind activity of the last few months he adds, "I'll be ready."
In Dewey, back from the ashes of the old Big Hole River Inn, is the Dewey Bar, or the Big Hole Athletic Club, as it' officially named
René Knapp, who is a school teacher much of the year, was bartending, and Dale Bjorklund, the bar' all-around handyman, teamed up to provide first class country-style hospitality.
Roger and Rita Malmquist are the owners of the Dewey Bar and are residents of the Dewey area. Roger also has another business, Highland Research, an energy and mining consulting service that' based in Butte. I caught up with Roger by phone at his office.
Roger was a long-time friend of Glendera Arnds, the previous owner of the Big Hole River Inn and occasionally helped her. The 2002 fire that destroyed the old facility was a crushing event. Of course, many unproven rumors circulated surrounding a pending sale that never came off.
"It was a bad deal," Roger commented.
For the Arnds family, it was devastating. "She (Glendera) had it insured for $70,000, but had a $68,000 mortgage on the property, and it cost $10,000 to clear the wreckage. She was left with nothing."
The Malmquists acquired the property in February 2003. "A pile of ashes and a liquor license," Roger says of his purchase.
They broke ground for a new building at the end of July and 12 weeks later was able to open up in time for the fall big game hunting season. He gives credit to local workers, Ken Schmidt and Art Fulton, for outstanding effort in getting the new building up and going.
Incidentally, during the site preparation, workers found a previously unknown underground room under the old floor. It was a 15 –20 foot square room. "We don't know what it was used for, whether a root cellar, or storage. Nobody knew anything about it previously."
The new incarnation of the Dewey Bar has an upscale look, with a light and cheerful atmosphere. "It' easy to clean--that' the main thing," Roger said.
That morning cleaning process got a little more excitement than expected or desired not long after the business opened.
Malmstquist described a local resident who had trouble holding jobs. "He'd run up a tab for a couple days and then he'd pick up an odd job and pay it off and then start another tab. He and this buddy of his spent a night drinking tequila and got pretty well out of it. They got the idea to break into this house where the owner was gone for the winter. They found a stash of guns and things got kind of ugly."
Malmquist recalls coming in at 6 a.m. to swamp the place on a winter morning and found the buddy sleeping at the front door. "He had gotten scared and actually ran all the way from Wise River (about five miles) to get away from his friend. It was pretty cold so I got him inside to warm up.
"Then the other guy came in with a fully automatic firearm. He shot about 40 rounds inside the building--I actually think he was asking for police to come in and kill him. I finally got him calmed down, but it sure was a good sound when I heard the gun click on an empty chamber."
While nobody got hurt in the encounter, the building acquired some permanent souvenirs, including a bullet hole in a Budweiser mirror next to the rest rooms.
In addition to the usual beverages, the Dewey Bar offers midday visitors a complimentary "Dewey Dog," a big juicy hot dog on a bun with a plate of potato chips. "You can have it with red sauce and yellow sauce (ketchup and mustard), or with green sauce (relish) if you ask for it," Dale Bjorklund cracked. "You could also have a grilled cheese sandwich or a steak sandwich too, but it'll still look just like a Dewey Dog."
René said that the kitchen isn't really equipped for serving foods other than what can be heated in a microwave, but referred to a lineup of grills just outside the side door, saying that a lot of food gets prepared out there and customers are expected to help themselves, adding that people often bring in pots of chile or other foods to share with their friends.
In explaining the mixture of customers at the bar, Bjorklund said, "This whole valley is full of dysfunctional people, so everybody is a character." He quickly added, "So I fit right in."
Malmquist says of Bjorklund, "Dale? He' an interesting story. We worked together on a power plant project at Hardin. About the time I started the bar his marriage broke up and he suddenly was out of a home, so I told him, "I've got a place where you can stay,' and he' been a fixture here ever since."
"These small town bars are really community centers," Malmquist says of his experiences of the last few years. "They really are our community halls. When someone gets hurt or a car breaks down or there' a lost dog, and they don't know what to do, they'll usually come in here. We'll help them get things sorted out and call for help if needed.
"Most of these country bars have a bulletin board and everybody uses them to advertise whatever functions they have going."
Malmquist did acknowledge that finding staff is a chronic problem. "It seems like we have a regular succession of temporary employees.
As to the official name of the business, "Big Hole Athletic Club," Malmquist said, "When I was putting together my concept for the place, I was working in Billings and I borrowed a lot of ideas from a sports bar in Billings."
Still, the official name and phone book listing causes some occasional confusion among newcomers, when they call to schedule a massage or want to use their exercise equipment.
"That' the way the business name is registered," Malmquist notes, but the bottom line is, "The bank takes checks made out to the Dewey Bar, and that' all that' really important."
Malmquist reflected on his experience in operating a small community bar the last three years. "I have no complaints. It' a lot of work for not much money. But without a bar the town doesn't exist."
While there are no reports of rebuilding at the old Sundance Lodge, the sparkling, new community centers for the Divide and Dewey areas of the Big Hole Valley are a tribute to community spirit and a spirit of optimism that reflects a basic resilience of the rural communities of the Big Hole--and probably typical of most areas of rural Montana.
It' just like a basic rule of cowboying: if you get bucked off a horse, you get right back on and ride.
The expression, "once in a blue moon," is at least 400 years old.
Source: The Montana Tavern Times, Sept., 2006, published monthly by Continental Communications, 125 W. Granite St., Suite 102, Butte, MT 59701.